2 Samuel 14:14
ESV
We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.
NIV
Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.
NASB
For we will surely die and are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up. Yet God does not take away life, but makes plans so that the banished one will not be cast out from Him.
CSB
We will certainly die and be like water poured out on the ground, which can’t be recovered. But God would not take away a life; he would devise plans so that the one banished from him does not remain banished.
NLT
All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.
KJV
For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
NKJV
For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.
What does 2 Samuel 14:14 mean?
Joab, David's military commander and nephew, knows Absalom murdered his own brother, Amnon, for raping their sister. Yet Joab is firmly convinced it would be better for Israel if David brought Absalom back from exile. Joab has enlisted the help of a crafty woman and told her what to say.Her performance starts by inspiring pity. She tells a sad story about how her husband is dead. Then, one son killed the other, so her clansmen want to execute the remaining son. Her husband will have no heir (2 Samuel 14:4–7). When David refuses to make a judgment immediately, she manipulates him until he does (2 Samuel 14:8–11).
Once David rules on that situation, she boldly and prophetically tells him he's harming Israel by keeping his son in exile (2 Samuel 14:12–13). Now, she seems to speak in poetry about the transience of life and God's desire that all will live and be reconciled. The woman appeals to the very character of God in making Joab's argument to David. God finds ways to bring those who are banished for their sins back home into relationship with Him. That's what God does. In fact, that's what God did for David after his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband (2 Samuel 12:13). Isaiah will later say that judgment is God's "strange" and "alien" work (Isaiah 28:21). If God can forgive David after he murdered Uriah, and David can forgive her fictional son, David can forgive Absalom.
As if she realizes she's gone too far, she returns to her vulnerability and flatters David's goodness and wisdom (2 Samuel 14:15–17). It's not clear when David realizes her story is fake. But he sees Joab's hand in the incident. And, perhaps unwisely, he allows Absalom to return (2 Samuel 14:18–21).
